Cory Henry, Hiromi's SonicWunder, and Liz Wright, Vijazz 2024's strengths

From 5 to 7 July

ACN/Per FrenchVillafranca del Penedes

04-03-2024 15:42

One of the news of the 17th edition is the return of the wine fair to the Rambla Sant Francesc

Corey Henry, Hiromi's Sonicwonder and Liz Wright, Vijazz 2024 highlights. ACN

Corey Henry, Sonicwonder from Hiromi, Manor Brown, Leon Vale and Lizz Wright are among the highlights of Vijazz 2024, which takes place from July 5 to 7 in Vilafranca del Penedes. Vijazz's artistic director, Carles Ocaña, highlighted that the poster for the 17th edition is “complete, diverse, modern and contains many established proposals and new ones that can be of great interest to people who go to Vijazz”. One of the novelties of the 2024 edition is the return of the wine fair to the Rambla Sant Francesc with gastronomic shows and music, announced the President of the Tastavins Penedes Academy, Max Margalef.

At an Espai Penedès-BCN press conference held by the Acadèmia Tastavins Penedes – the organizing body of Vijazz – on Carrer Muntaner in Barcelona, Ocaña confirmed that he has set himself three goals. The first and “most important” thing is to achieve “the highest quality of artistic proposals” as well as the diversity of jazz styles that make up the program “so that everyone can attend a concert that may interest them and they can also discover other directions of jazz.”

He explained that the second goal is to bring “the best international artists in the current world of jazz and for Villafranca to be the center of their tours.” The third goal is to “bet on new trends in jazz with already established and well-known groups, but who are not well known here or have never come to the country to perform.

Programming

The festival kicks off on the main stage with saxophonist Marcus Strickland Toy-Kev on Friday, July 5, performing with Japanese pianist Hiromi Sonicwonder, who arrives with her new project and is one of the highlights of this edition.

On Saturday, British guitarist Manor Brown will perform at the Jaume I Theater, and on the same day, pianist Corey Henry, who won four Grammy Awards and is a follower of funk and contemporary jazz, will take the stage on the same day. By Rosalia. On Sunday it will be the turn of saxophonist Leon Fall and singer Lizz Wright.

“Them and Jazz” course

Ocaña stated that they are continuing with the “Elles i el jazz” cycle in which the Marina Vallet Quintet, the Èlia Lucas Quartet and the Lucía Rey Trio will perform at the Sant Francesc Monastery.

Innojaz

As a prelude to the festival, the day before the opening, Enojazz, with its fusion of wine and jazz, will be celebrated at Plaça Jaume I with a set of Stevie Wonder songs with singer Alex Dee, based in Catalonia, and the big bands of EMM Dolors Calvet. The ceremony will be paired with a selection of wines from the Torres family.

Likewise, on Friday and Saturday nights, Societat La Principal – El Casal will be the stage for ViOFFjazz, a proposal based on electronic music to bring the festival closer to new audiences. Vijazz 2024 also bets once again on a new talent cycle in collaboration with ESMUC.

The return of the wine fair on the Rambla Saint Francis

One of the novelties is the return of the wine fair to the Rambla Sant Francesc with gastronomic and music shows, announced the President of the Tastavins Penedes Academy, Max Margalef. The participating wineries and their wine references will be accompanied by a gastronomic space, relaxation areas and a stage on which a large-scale program will be developed that will be announced in the coming weeks. In this sense, Gemma Romeo, tourism advisor of Vilafranca del Penedes, pointed out that this will be very positive for all the people at the fair because it will be a much larger space and everyone will be more comfortable.

As in recent editions, during the three days of the festival, the La Principal – El Casal association will host a program of tasting and pairing activities with wines and Cava Penedes as protagonists.

Margalef also stated that the world of wine and cava is going through difficult times due to drought and that the reason for establishing the academy is to promote the culture of wine and the region. He stressed that they have done more work this year to be “spoken and to offer high-quality products” made from Penedes and Villafranca.